


A Deck Of Cards

by GoldenBuddle, LadyLampblack, Liliflower137



Category: BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games)
Genre: Atlas (BioShock) is Not Frank Fontaine, Atlas (BioShock) is Real, Canon-Typical Violence, Card Theming, Does it count if the ocs are facets of Jack's personality?, Gen, M/M, Mind Control, Needles, OC, OCs - Freeform, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, Would You Kindly (BioShock), it is bioshock after all, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29589285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBuddle/pseuds/GoldenBuddle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLampblack/pseuds/LadyLampblack, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liliflower137/pseuds/Liliflower137
Summary: Tenenbaum exhaled, a trail of smoke wisping out of her mouth as she eyed the three in front of her. "We all have different sides to us, though they weren't meant to be fractured. Rapture is a den of new experiences, fresh for the taking. What's it going to take to survive in pieces like this? What will you do to survive?"Hearts stared back at Tenenbaum, confusion swirling in his expression.Diamonds stepped back, his hands moving to nervously fix his shirt.Spades gripped the radio tightly, his expression twisting up to anger. "We.." Spades swallowed, "We will do whatever it takes to survive."
Relationships: Atlas/Jack (BioShock), eventual ship - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

It’s with a splatter that the man named Jack clambered onto the steps, taking his time to heave out the cold seawater that had gotten into his system. God, He _hated_ water. The damned liquid can go and bite his ass. With a shake of his head and one more dry heave, Jack stared his way up the stairs to get somewhere drier and safer. Once through a strange pair of doors, he sat against the cold stone of the dark.. lighthouse room. Heh. Aren’t lighthouses supposed to be filled with _light_?  
  
Almost as if someone was listening to his thoughts, the lights flashed on, and he winced at the searing lights. The statue looming over him did his nerves no favors and having no intent to stay under the statue's creepy visage, he went the only way: down.  
  
Down and right into a strange circular craft. Sucking in a breath, the sopping wet man stepped into the craft. He took a few more beats of time to catch his breath before he glanced at the switch near the back of the craft, and he flipped the switch, hoping that was an unlocking thing. Slowly, his ride began to trundle into deep waters, making him recoil- he had just survived a plane crash. The last thing he wanted was to go back to the depths he's just escaped-

He sinks into the water with a quiet sound. The carriage trundles on, sinking ten fathoms - no fifteen - all no worse for wear.

Jack almost laughed to himself. It's some kind of submarine! Great! It’s not like he just climbed out of the freezing depths to get away from the water!

With a near-silent thump, he slid to the bottom of the strange circular craft and just watched as the numbers flew by the window. Eventually, some kind of screen rolled down automatically, and a recorded reel began to play.

His head thumped against the craft again, a light burst of laughter ripping from him as he watched. Of course, this thing had a show.

Taking the chance to at least dry off, Jack tugged off his sweater as the reel continued to play.

_“I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question.”_

Jack rolled his eyes, lightly scoffing at Andrew’s words. Of course, he needs a quiz right now. He must be quizzed right now.

_“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? ‘NO!‘ Said the man in Washington, ’It belongs to the poor!’”_

_“’No!’ Said the man in the Vatican, ’It belongs to God!’”_

Jack blinked before his face scrunched up in amusement. What the hell is this amusing video for? Propaganda?

_“‘No!’ Says the man in Moscow, ‘It belongs to everyone!’”_

_“I, rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different.”_

..Definitely propaganda.

Why the hell is there a propaganda submarine in the middle of the ocean anyway?

_“I chose the impossible. I chose...”_

Oh, keep him in suspense, Andrew. It’s not like he has anything else to do right now.

Jack’s eyebrow raised as the screen was pulled away, revealing a crumbly underwater wall covered in coral.

**_“Rapture.”_ **

Beyond the wall of coral sat a length of buildings, staggering into the open sea like drunken peg legs from several domes near the base, a dying spectacle of limelights cascading out like a star as Jack's pod approached it. Neon washed over him as the little propaganda sub coasted between buildings onto a magnetized track. Lights flicker along the arches.

"All good things flow.. into this city.. Rapture…" Jack read under his breath. Rapture seems rather full of itself. 

The pod is punted into another shaft, where it rose to the surface once again.

As it rose, a voice warbled by glass came through and into the sphere. 

_“Just one more minute!”_ The voice warbled, sounding excited and scared. _“The sphere! The sphere is coming up now!”_

Jack couldn't help but squint as he tugged on his sweater. Sphere? Is that what they called this craft?

 _“Johnny! Security is banging on all over. Get a move on!”_ A different voice warbled, this one through a layer of tech and tinted with an Irish accent.

The sphere finally breached the water into the air, blurring the vehicle’s window for a split moment. 

The room in front of him seemed a bit broken down, water flowing from cracks along the walls and roof and mixing with the carpeted metal floor as the lights constantly flickered.

Though, that wasn’t what had Jack’s attention.

A very frightened man was slowly walking backward and towards the still dripping sphere.

 _“Please, lady! I, uh- Didn’t mean ta trespass!”_ The unknown man’s voice dripped with panic, terrified of the unseen other person.

_“Just- Don’t hurt me! Ple-Please Let me go!”_

The lights flickered, and then there was a ..misshapen human in front of the panicked tearful man. Jack swallowed as he took a step back. 

_“You can-can Take my gun!”_

Jack sucked in a breath as the misshapen person lifted a claw up and-

Jack’s hands leapt up to his mouth to stifle a shriek as the person moved quickly, disemboweling the first man.

The first man yelled as the misshapen human held the good man against the spheres’ door, making it impossible for Jack to leave the vehicle. Not that he wanted to.

Jack watched in absolute horror as blood was splashed all over the sphere. Screams of the first man were quickly drowned out by the man’s own blood-filled gargles.

After what felt like hours, the horrible claw-wielding newcomer dropped the first with a thump.

Jack felt bile bubble up his throat as the _thing_ connected its eyes with Jack’s.

Twitching horribly, the entity tilted its head and slammed its claw against the sphere’s glass. _“Is it someone new?”_ It warbled, a horrid smile buried in its tone.

Jack dragged his feet back as the entity dragged its claws on the glass, causing a screeching glass-against-metal noise to echo and fill both the sphere and outer room.

The entity suddenly screamed, causing a yelp to rip from Jack’s throat.

The entity then jumped- and for a split moment, Jack was hopeful, thinking that maybe he would survive, that the entity wouldn’t kill him- then the entity landed on the sphere.

Jack immediately crashed down to the floor, scrambling to the door as the entity laughed and clawed at the sphere.

Electricity sparked the crunching of metal as the entity slashed and slashed and slashed.

A laugh-filled scream before the entity jumped off.

Jack forced his body to spin around, hoping that maybe the entity was injured. But no. It was fine.

The entity twitched, staring at the sphere before smiling wickedly and slinking away.

Jack’s chest was rising and falling very rapidly as he opened and closed his mouth. “..Wh-What.. was.. _th-that_?!”

A moment passed, then two, then- the radio crackled to life.

_“Would ya kindly pick up this handheld radio?”_

Hands shaking violently, Jack scrabbled for the radio, for a friendly voice in this hellhole he'd floated into. The moment his hands wrapped around the radio, a small feeling of contentedness crashed over him, but it quickly got washed away by the terror that permeated this place.

He tried to find something to say to the new voice, but his voice petered at his lips unsurely. What did he even say in a situation like this..?  
  
“..Hi?” he responded to the man’s voice.

 _“Hey, boyo.”_ The voice sounded slightly strained, though tinted with an Irish accent, the man still somehow sounded friendly. _“I don't know how ya survived that plane crash, but I've never been one to question Providence.”_ The man was heard swallowing, ticking heard in the background. _“..Now, ya don’t know me, but I'm Atlas, and I aim to keep ya alive.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “Atlas, what.. should I _do_ exactly? That thing is still out there, and I have no way to defend myself.” Jack finally asked, a rivulet of sweat needling down his brow. He didn’t think he was scared this much in his entire life. Not even when a storm nearly toppled the barn onto the house.

 _“For now? Just keep on movin’. Sitting in that ol’ broken down bathysphere makes you a sittin’ duck. But if ya keep on moving, ya might be able to get a weapon and hold your own against that Splicer.”_ Atlas said back. On his side of the radio, there was the sound of a chair groaning. 

Jack nodded dumbly and clambered out of the vehicle. Soon as he was free, he booked it. Right up until he had to pause and climb over a tumbled pillar. 

A soft sigh warbled through the radio’s filter. _“Good. Now, would ya kindly find a crowbar or somethin’? Bloody Splicers sealed Johnny in before, they..”_ Atlas paused, his voice getting choked up. _“..Goddamn_ **_Splicers_ ** _.”_ He suddenly spat out, a growl entering his tone.

Jack became antsy, shivering violently as he scrabbled for the nearest blunt object.  
  
A pipe wrench was going to have to do.

The moment his hands wrapped around the pipe wrench, the feeling of euphoria flooded him once more. But this time, instead of the atmosphere washing it away, a shrieking laugh pulled him out of the feeling.

 _“Ah, shit- Boyo, step back!”_ The sound of clicking and gunfire filled the air as a drone came out of seemingly nowhere and started to shoot the spicer.

 _“Just a bit further-! How’d ya like that, sister!?”_ Atlas jeered, chasing the splicer away from the area.

It took a moment, but Jack was able to calm himself and turn to a.. Blocked off tunnel. Great.“The… the way’s blocked off.”

 _“..Figured. Johnny might’ve.. Been able to leave if it wasn’t.”_ Atlas sighed. _“..Ya could try to use whatever ya picked up? Break the way back open, maybe?”_

"Good idea. Good idea. Give me a moment."

Jack clipped the radio to his belt and began to whack at the debris in his path. It shattered with startling ease, and he peeked into the channel he'd opened up.

"Is that a couch up th- SHIT!"

He stumbled back when a flaming loveseat slammed against the fresh path. "Oh, come onnnn!"

The radio crackled to life again. _“You okay there, boyo? That was quite a yell.”_

“Are thrown, flaming couches a common form of greeting around here?” Jack asked sarcastically. “Because someone rolled out a welcome mat just for me. How sweet.”  
  
The farm boy’s voice dripped with derision.

Atlas immediately snorted. _“Nah, usually the welcome mat is accompanied by bullets. Sorry that ya are getting such a lackluster greeting.”_

“I guess I’ll brace myself, then.”  
  
Jack pocketed the wrench before pushing the thankfully extinguished loveseat out of his path and began the trek up the thankfully intact stairs. 

The walls upstairs were lined with halfhearted neon and a marker of something being marketed up the next flight. Sadly, Jack was distracted as he was beaning more of those splicer things in the face. He hesitated a moment.  
  
“..Should I loot the corpses? Is that a morbid fucking thing to ask someone?”

Atlas couldn’t help but snort again. _“Go ahead. Down here, you take what ya can get. And usually, you can only get what ya need off of corpses.”_

Naturally, Jack didn’t hesitate to rip apart the pockets of his victim, pocketing the weird paper dollars and ripping open the snack cake to stuff in his face.  
  
“Man, these off-brand Twinkies taste weird.”

 _“..Boyo, did you just, eat somethin’ that was in a dead body’s pocket?”_ Atlas’ voice sounded incredulous as he tried to keep himself from laughing. 

“Free snack.” Jack shrugged. “Now, what’s this plasmid thing I’m seeing a sign for?”  
  
He dusted his hands off on his pants and didn’t even wait for an answer as he climbed the stairs onto the balcony.

He caught a glimpse of something bright and shiny sitting in a strange-looking machine. He stepped over before Atlas could explain what it was and picked it up, turning the shiny bottle over in his hands. Despite the ruin of everything else, the bottle was pristine, the metal burnished and buffed to chrome perfection. There was an odd plunger at the top, of which playing with revealed a hypodermic needle. The bottle’s liquid was a literal glowing red, though he thought he could catch some sick green undertones. It appeared the bottle might have had a label at some point, but it was worn away, unreadable, contrary to the rest of its clean look.

 _“..Plasmid signs are everywhere too, well advertise the plasmids. They’re a special liquid that can give ya powers.”_ Atlas quietly explained before he let out a hiss of air. _“..And ya are gonna need it. If you take the plunger off, it should show a big ol’ needle. Jab it into ya wrist. The bottle will do the rest.”_

“I know what I’m doin’ toniiiight,” Jack mumbled, twisting the top of the plunger to free the needle and pulling it into his hands. Woah. Big needle.

Not letting any second thoughts get to him, he jammed the thing into his wrist and presses down before any of his blood can contaminate the mix.

Immediately, his mind filled with pain.

Atlas’ voice immediately broke through the air as screams leapt from Jack’s throat. _“Steady now! Your genetic code is being rewritten, just hold on, and everything will be fine!”_

The words didn’t even register to the man as he stumbled away from the machine, the now empty bottle falling to the ground with a crash. Jack’s breathing was unsteady, rapid, and ragged as scream after scream ripped from him. 

_“Kid!? You hearin’ me?!”_

Even if he wanted to, Jack couldn’t get anything but screams through his mouth, step after step brought him closer to the edge of the balcony as electricity arced up his wrists to his head. His hands scrambled along the rail, his screams echoing, shifting, _splitting_ \- 

Three pairs of hands grasped the railing. One red, one brown, one blue. 

..And he fell.


	2. Chapter 2

The radio sparked right next to their heads. A voice quietly asking,  _ “Lad..? Ya alright?”  _ But that was completely drowned out by someone stepping up to the group. ”..Looky here... three little fishies. ..Seems they got their first bite of Adam, huh?” The voice seemed to cause the Radio to shut down with a quiet crackle.

None of the three could move as the Splicer poked at them. “...Wonder if they still got some Adam on ‘em..”

In the distance, heavy stomping could be heard. Immediately that noise caused another pair of feet to appear in their line of sight. “You hear that!? Let’s bug!” As soon as those words slid from the other Splicer, the Splicer bolted. Causing the first to stand up to shake his fist at the second. 

“Weak!” The first jeered, “You’re a weak chopper!”

The other was heard barking out a wry laugh. “These little fishies ain’t worth toeing it with no Big Daddy!”

The first splicer snarled. “Yellow! Always ‘ave been!” With spit, the first bent down to the three, poking them again. “..You’ll be no better off with the metal daddy, little fishies. ..See you floating in the briney.” With that, the three prone men were abandoned. 

A handful of minutes crawled by, only broken by the steps of the apparent ‘Big Daddy.’

A grey little girl with faintly glowing, sickly yellow eyes appeared into view after a moment had passed.  _ “..Look, Mr. Bubbles. It’s angels. I can see light coming from their bellies.” _ The mockery of a little girl crooned with an echoing voice. As she spoke, a monstrous creature clad in metal, leather, and canvas stomped into view.

An echoing groan suddenly slipped from one of the three men’s lips, and that caused the mockery to step back.  _ “..Oh, they’re still breathing. ..That’s alright.” _ She hummed dreamily, turning and skipping away.  _ “I know they’ll be angels soon.” _

The little girl cast them all longing looks as she drifted away, her armored protector following close behind at an equally sedate pace.

As soon as the coast was clear, one of the three of them sat up. “Uh… I think we fucked up.” he stated crisply, voice managing to remain cool and light despite the semi-panicked expression on his face. “Should we all, uh, sound off?”

At that, the second of the three sat up. “You think?” His voice was ragged and raspy, turning to flash a glare at the first. The man then scowled and exhaled. “..Spades. Anxiety.” 

The third pushed himself up onto his elbows “Hearts!” He chirped.

The one with an odd curly bounce to his hair and dark purple glittering by his eyes raised a brow. “Anxiety is a weird name. I assume I’m supposed to be Diamonds.”

“Anxiety is what I embody, you idiot.” Spades immediately snapped, moving to hop onto his feet. Accidentally showing off his stocky wry form. The apparent embodiment of Anxiety glared at the other two, noting how Diamonds had a pair of blue card diamonds next to his eyes and how Hearts had two reddish, pinkish hearts beside each of his eyes.

Diamonds stood up himself, all lank and bone. “Yes, I’m aware. It’s called trying to lighten the mood.”   
  
Looks like they found the sarcasm. Diamonds looked down at his top with a critical eye, measuring up the dust and small splatters of blood. “None of the spare clothes survived the crash, did they? Of course, they didn’t. These conditions are untenable.”

Hearts rolled over onto his back “Wait, which one am I supposed to be...?”

Diamonds looked Hearts over quickly. “I think you’re the brawns and, well, heart. As far as what I am.. I’m, not sure yet.”

Spades turned his glare towards Diamonds as he bent down and scooped up the radio. “..You’re vainness.” 

“You say that like Jack had a vain bone in his body.”   
  
Hearts jumped up. He’s taller and broader than both of them. “Hey, wait, give me that!” He made a grab for the radio.

Spades immediately ducked from the grab. “No!” He barked, skidding backward. 

The radio sparked to life for a moment.  _ “..Boyo..? You there?” _

Immediately, Spades’ expression twisted up into anger, his hair almost standing on end as he flipped the radio around to snarl into the mic. “Who are you!? What did you do to Jack?!”

“Easy there, Rex,” for once, Diamonds didn’t sound sarcastic. “I… think he was helping Jack before. Am I right?”

_ “..Aye.” _ Atlas’ voice was slow, wary.  _ “You are.” _

Spades swung to hold his glare at Diamonds, his hands hovering over the radio with vicious protectiveness. “..He still hasn’t explained  _ why _ he did this to Jack.”   
  
..And  Hearts  suddenly tackled Spades to the ground. “GIVE ME THE RADIO!”

Spades shrieked as he fell to the ground, the radio falling to the ground.

Diamonds strolled over to scoop up the radio and clip it to his belt. “Note to self, change as soon as possible.”   
  
The bony man that barely fit into his clothing climbed the nearest column and sat at the top. “Not giving this back until you two calm down!” he called to the other two men.

“I’m not the one who tackled myself!” Spades snarled as he scrabbled against Hearts grip. His teeth were sharper as his hair continued to stand on end.

“Uh-huh.” The return of deadpan. “Mister radioman, could you mind explaining what happened from your perspective while those two wrestle?”

“Let me GO!” Spades snarled, still brawling with Hearts.

The radio crackled to life.  _ “..Name’s Atlas.” _ The radioman started, slowly and warily.  _ “..But to answer ya question, All I heard was.. Jack taking the plasmid before screaming and falling off what I assume to be a ledge.” _

“Looks like a balcony. Any chance you have any video feed on what he looked like, what he was wearing..?”

_ “The only drone I have access ta, is the one that I’m usin’ to keep the splicer from comin’ back to eat Jack-.. Well, you folks.” _ Atlas dryly stated.  _ “So I have no clue what Jack was wearin’.” _   
  
Diamonds sighed dramatically. “Thanks anyway. It was worth a shot.”   
  
He took a deep breath and let out a sharp whistle.   
  
“HEY!!”

As Diamonds’ shouted, Spades’ suddenly clawed hands crackled with Electricity before he punched Hearts.    
  
Hearts recoiled.. Then retaliated by headbutting Spades in the forehead.

Spades immediately yelped as blood gushed down his face, four raised bumps peering through the pierced flesh. His eyes suddenly sparked, the electricity bouncing from his head to the raised growths. “Let me go, damnit!” The man snarled, still trying to scramble away from Hearts.

Atlas groaned. He could hear the goddamn bickering all the way up on the balcony through the damned radio.  _ “Oh, for the love of- WOULD YA KINDLY STOP SQUABBLING!”  _ _  
_   
Hearts immediately froze,  and Spades took the chance to scramble away from Hearts. “For fucks sake, I didn’t do anything!” He snarled as he reached up to touch the tender bumps.

Atlas just groaned.  _ “Can someone tell me what’s going on?!” _ _  
_ _  
_ “I needed the radio!” 

“Alright, everyone, question. What are our last memories before waking up on the ground?” Diamonds called down.

Spades scowled, glancing up towards Diamonds before glancing at Hearts and repeating. “..The transformation. Jack was terrified.” Spades slowly muttered, not giving up on the repeated glancing.

“Electricity... Burning in his arms...” Hearts added.

“And he fell off the balcony, landing where we woke up.” Diamonds finished. “And from my point of view, we’re all wearing the same clothes, and you two look VERY similar.”

“Oh well, that’s great.” Spades snarked, scowling even more. 

“I like the clothes! This sweater is so cozy!” Hearts said. 

“Well, you’re an idiot then.” Spades snapped. “We’re  _ underwater, _ Hearts! Cozy isn’t what we need!”

Atlas groaned once more.  _ “Girls, girls! You’re both pretty. Now can we move on, please?! We have things to do! Like, ya know, getting to safety!?” _ _  
_ _  
_ “It’s wool!” Hearts looked offended. “It’ll keep you warm even when it’s wet!”

“The knit of the cable is meant to repel water, but that’s not the point. Because we need to escape and maybe get Jack back in one piece.”

Spades growled before he started to tap his feet. “Why don’t you come on down then? We can get places faster if we, you know, stick  _ together _ !”

Diamonds deftly jumped onto the ground, wincing at the spring tension his legs received. "Happy now?"

Spades frowned before he walked up to Diamonds, keeping his back to the wall. “Yes. Now let’s get going.” As he spoke, his eyes lingered on the radio, his hands flexing as he stared.  Diamonds limped over to the door, barely glancing at Spades.

Oh. The door out is an electrified sliding door with a broken handle. Diamonds  immediately drooped. 

Spades scowled at the door before he scoffed. “Great. Of course. The one way out is  _ electrified _ .”

_ “Use the electro bolt ya just got. If ya electrocute already sparkin’ wires, it’ll break the circuit.” _ _  
_ _  
_ Hearts lifted his hand, sparks gathered around it, he reached out, and sparks shot out at the broken lever.    
  
The door slid open.

Spades sharply exhaled as he folded his arms. All the while, his eyes kept dashing to the radio on Diamonds’ hips. “Good job, now you go first.”

Diamonds seemed to have recovered from his jump and steps into the glass hallway. He slowed down to gape up at the sea baring down on him.

"... I want to swim in it."

Waiting until Hearts stepped into the tunnel, Spades stepped forward and grabbed the radio. “Can’t do that with the radio, though.” A cocky tone had entered his voice as he smirked at Diamonds.

"Or at the bottom of the ocean with the tail end of a crashed plane heading towards us." Diamonds responded quickly. "Run."   
  
Hearts ran ahead of the two of them, pushing past.

Spades didn’t even blink. He just gripped the radio tightly and followed Hearts’ steps.

Diamond took up the rear, slower than the other two despite his lighter build. The return of the limp didn't help.

Right as Hearts stepped under the middle of the tunnel, the plane hit the top of it. With an unsettling and booming  _ crack, _ the glass and metal buckled in. Causing water to gush into the tunnel, along with a sheet of metal to swing directly into Hearts’ path.   
  
It slammed directly into the largest man but didn’t seem to quite touch him. An electric barrier of sorts formed around his body, and he just kept running.

Spades dodged the metal, and once he was through the doorway, he spun around to face Diamonds. For a split moment, a split second, he looked as if he was going to slam the door shut in Diamonds’ face, but, for some reason, he didn’t.

Diamonds had to crawl through the plane to even reach the door, eyes shining wetly from a combination of tears and just seawater getting in his eyes.

The moment Diamonds was through the doorway, Spades slammed his shoulders into the door and locked it shut before he turned to face Diamonds.

Holy shit, was that a layer of rock on his eyelashes?! Diamonds callously removed the rock-like contacts and wiped his eyes dry, smearing crystal flecks like makeup on his face.

"You didn't close the doors on me."

Spades sharply exhaled before he folded his arms, ignoring how the radio in his hands sparked and crackled. “I know.” ..The bumps on his head were a bit bigger.

"It would have been so easy just to leave me behind there." Oh god, is that a warble in the guy's voice? "I know you don't like me."

Diamonds wiped more of the fucking rocks out of his eyes, spreading the sparkles more.

The embodiment of anxiety flashed Diamonds’ a strange look before he turned and laid his back against the door. “Who the hell said we didn’t like you?”

"Thought it was obvious from the way you guys look at me." Diamonds shrugged nonchalantly, voice returning to flatness as he turned away and trying to get his wet hair to curl again.

Spades looked even more confused. “What the hell are you talking about, you vain ass? I glare at everyone and this dopey fuck-” He gestured up to Hearts.  Hearts waved in turn, smiling widely.  “-Is literally love embodied. Stop being an idiot.” 

Diamonds simply shrugged. "What now, then?" There was clear underlying anxiety to the way mister rock eyes twitched, continuing to wipe his eyes free of the hardening liquid that clung to his lashes.

“..Well,” Spades started, lifting the radio up a bit as he glanced around the room. “..Atlas..? Radioman, can you hear us?”

The radio sparked and crackled, a burst of electricity arcing from it. Spades immediately grit his sharpened teeth with a sharp inhale. “..Fuck.. It got wet.”

"Well, let's go get a new one, then. Surprised the submarine radios aren't more waterproof." Diamonds suggested. "And let's get into something more durable than hand-knitted wool in case it rips or something."

Diamonds is, in fact, shivering uncontrollably despite his clear intention to just plow on ahead.

Spades nodded, opening and closing his mouth. “..Where should we start?”

"Maybe that way?" Diamonds pointed in the direction of a low building.

Hands still tight around the broken and still sparking radio, Spades nodded. “..Lead the way.”   
  
With a wide grin,  Hearts rushed ahead, again in the direction Diamonds pointed. 

Diamonds followed at a more sedate pace sighing as his eyes finally decided to stop crystaling over.

And Spades finally took up the rear. As he walked, he quietly eyed the place around them. Not trusting it to stay stable.    
  
“Are you two coming or what??”

“I’m still in pain after jumping down the length of that balcony again. Also got rocks in my eyes.” Diamonds called back. “Just because we need to get out of here doesn’t mean we should burn ourselves out in the process.”

At that comment, Spade snorted, his sharp teeth quietly receding.    
  
Hearts hopped from foot to foot, apparently full of energy. As the three walked, Spades kept eyeing the area around him and dragging his eyes over the two other cards. About the second time he did that, his eyes caught how Diamonds’ clothes stuck to his skin and how his form shook in the cooled air.

Spades thinned his lips as he glanced down at his hands and the radio in them. “..Wait. Maybe.. We should take a break. See if we can get this thing working again.”    
  
Diamonds rose a brow at that before glancing up the way of the elevators’ path and sighed. “Sure. Fine.”   
  
With that, he ungracefully sat down hard on the dead, crunchy grass along the pathways. He peeled off his sweater to try wringing out the heavy, thick fabric with his cold, stiff hands.

Hearts groaned.  “If we keep going, we might be able to find another, though!”

Spades frowned before he lowered himself down. “And if we stay here, we might be able to get this fixed.” 

Diamonds glanced at Spades, continuing his attempts to wring out the sweater.

Spades just stayed silent in return as he fiddled with the sparking radio. His sweater’s sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he pried open the radio.


End file.
